


An Understanding Between Ladies

by paradiamond



Series: Between Mary and Anna [1]
Category: Turn (TV 2014)
Genre: Colonial Lesbians, F/F, I will sail this ship by myself, Mary POV, explicit sexual content between awesome ladies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-17
Updated: 2014-06-17
Packaged: 2018-02-04 23:44:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1797691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paradiamond/pseuds/paradiamond
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mary has some things to discuss with Anna, but it goes farther than what she intended.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Understanding Between Ladies

Unhappy as she is with the circumstances, Mary has to admit to herself that she is mostly satisfied with the state of her life. Not happy exactly, but confident enough in her future and the future of her child that she might as well be. 

“Good morning Mrs. Woodhull,” A servant says as he passes her in the hall of the great house. _Don’t you mean Mrs. Culper?_ she thinks, clenching one hand into a fist. 

“Good morning,” Mary says, smiling. She knows just how to play her part. This is where she belongs, the dutiful wife in the great house. 

She sees to Thomas, has breakfast with her father in law, the Major, and her technically with her husband as well, though he might as well have been absent for all the attention he paid to them. Mary does her best to make up for his poor behavior, but the pitying glances she gets from the others makes her clench her hand around her knife so hard she hears her knuckles creek. She goes about her day and puts the fact that Abe isn’t even trying to _pretend_ to be married to her anymore out of her mind for the morning. He disappears entirely after noon, and Mary has to endure admitting to two separate people that she has no idea where he is. 

On her way back up the stairs to her room she catches sight of Anna Strong coming out of a room she know she shouldn’t be in and presses her lips together to stop from laughing. _How these two managed to be spies is beyond me,_ Mary thinks, trying to stay amused so she doesn’t get too angry. The anger isn't useful. 

Not feeling particularly charitable towards Anna on even a good day which this day most certainty is not, Mary just waits for Anna to notice her, arms crossed over her chest like her mother used to do when she caught Mary in the pantry or in the garden when she shouldn't be. After a shameful number of seconds Anna finally does, and jumps most satisfyingly, pressing a hand to her chest. 

“Mar- Mrs. Woodhull!” she gasps, glancing around the hall. 

Mary narrows her eyes. “Are you looking for Abe?” 

Anna pales, then reddens. “No, why should I?” 

Mary tilts her head up. “Good because I haven’t seen him.” 

“I wasn’t-” 

“To be entirely honest I assumed he was with you,” Mary finishes, amazed at how easy it is to joke about the ruination of her family with the woman that had wrought it. Though in her heart she supposes that she knows it's Abe she really has to blame.

To her credit, Anna refuses to break her gaze. “Mrs. Woodhull, I know that-” 

“If we must discuss it, I would rather we did it behind closed doors,” Mary says, interrupting her again. She learned the lesson about being overheard the hard way. At the thought of Ensign Baker, her throat constricts and for a terrible second she fears she might cry. Instead she manages to walk forward, past Anna, and pushes the door to her room open. It’s a nice, airy room with a large window that faces the hillside and a vanity mirror for her things. Thomas is in his own nursery a few doors down, and Abe barely spends any time here at all, often coming to bed after her and rising before she wakes up, if he shows up at all, so Mary considers it her room. 

True to form, Anna follows her in, though she lingers by the door after she closes it. Mary ignores her for the moment, pulling pins out of her hair as she picks her way across the room. She settles herself on the edge of the bed, shaking out her hair and making herself comfortable where Anna will never be truly welcome. 

Anna watches her every move, the hard gleam of intelligence and something else Mary can’t define readily visible in her eyes. As much as Mary wants to simply hate her on principle, she can’t quite make it happen. Maybe they’re too similar. The most Mary had managed to summon up is a deeply rooted envy so rotten it makes her sick. 

Anna is still standing there, still taking stock of Mary just as Mary takes stock of her. On impulse, Mary calls out to her. “Come here,” she says, patting the space on the bed next to her as Anna eyes her suspiciously from the other side of the room. Mary fights the urge to roll her eyes. 

“I promise I’m not going to scratch your eyes out, I just want to talk to you. Woman to woman,” she smiles, showing teeth. 

Anna approaches, still watching her very carefully, like Mary is a particularly dangerous animal. The thought pleases her more than it probably should. She was't raised to behave in such a vicious manner, not even within her own head, but the world hasn't stood up to it's end of the bargain either. Terrorizing Anna Strong is about the only freedom she has left. _At least one person in this town has the courtesy to pay me any mind at all,_ she thinks, grimly imagining her husband off somewhere, destroying their family without a second thought. Finally, Anna sits down on the bed, perched right on the edge. She looks positively coiled to spring. 

Mary shifts to face her properly, her hair brushing lightly against her shoulder, and Anna flinches, tension visible in every line of her body. “Mary…” 

“No. I am speaking now,” Mary says, trusting that Anna’s guilt will override her pride. It does. 

“Anna,” she says, trying to keep her tone civil with some success. “What’s done is done. There's nothing I can do to change what has happened, and there's no point in trying. My main concern now is for the safety and future of my son. I see no reason why we should be at each other’s throats, assuming the affair is over.” 

Anna’s eyes widen, visibly shocked by her bluntness. “I am...surprised to hear you feel that way.” 

“Yes, well. Certain...activities my husband has been involved in were made clear to me shortly before the battle. I trust he told you,” Mary says, and Anna looks away, trying to conceal her expression. Mary watches her choose her words, considering the profile of the woman her husband prefers over her. She’s beautiful, but then so is Mary. It must be something else. 

Anna turns back, seeming to have come to a decision. “I have wronged you deeply, Mrs. Woodhull. Please believe me when I say that I deeply regret what I have done to you. I would have you know that I did not leave my husband on that boat for yours, I left for myself.” Mary narrows her eyes and wait for her to continue. “That being said. I know you don’t...agree with what your husband has done,” Anna says, keeping her voice low. “But I know that you are an intelligent and forward thinking woman, otherwise you would have turned us both in by now.” 

Mary shifts her weight on the bed, and catches Anna tracking the motion. _Interesting,_ she thinks, _Does she think I’m going to stab her?_

“I’ve seen what has happened to you since your husband was condemned,” Mary responds, leaning closer to the other woman to see her lean away. “I have no intention of walking down that path.” 

Something hardens in Anna’s expression. “I can respect that.” 

“Good.” Mary crosses her ankles. “I hope you can also respect my decision to stay uninvolved in...whatever it is you might still be doing.” 

“Of course,” Anna says, but her icy tone bothers Mary. 

Mary leans forward again, closer than would be considered proper, but then nothing about their lives is proper anymore. “Do you think yourself better than me?” 

Anna does not lean away this time. “No.”

“Liar,” Mary says, suddenly very angry. “You think that just because you can follow _my_ husband -” 

Anna, looking panicked, reaches out and puts a hand over Mary’s mouth, effectively stopping her from speaking. Mary’s eyes widen and she lashes out, going for the other woman’s face. She catches her hair bonnet instead, ripping it off. Anna holds her arms desperately, telling her to be quiet, be quiet. They might hear. The major might hear. 

Mary finally succeeds in pushing her away and puts one hand over her eyes, mortified. She curls in on herself, and squeezes her eyes shut. She had wanted to be reasonable in this. She feels Anna lay a gentle hand on her shoulder, lightly, like she might snatch it away at any second if Mary tries to attack her again. 

“I’m sorry for touching you,” Anna is saying, sounding upset. “I know you don't- I just didn’t want-” 

“I understand,” Mary manages, focusing on a particular shop on the floor to ground herself. “It was the smart thing to do. I should not have lost my temper like that.” 

After a tense second, Anna moves over on the bed, closer to her than she had previously dared. She puts one of her hands on top of Mary’s, her expression ernest. “Is it meaningless to apologize? For everything, I mean.” 

"Yes." Mary keeps her eyes fixed on the floor. They drift into tense silence for several seconds until Mary finally sighs. “No. Not if you mean it.” 

“I’m so sorry,” Anna says, sounding raw and tired, and Mary looks up to find her very close, dark hair falling around her shoulders now that Mary has ripped off her bonnet and most of the pins. She looks like she means it. Mary looks into her eyes, and thinks she sees what Abe sees in her. The steel matched with the honest well-meaning. 

“How irritating,” Mary says. 

Anna frowns, and tilts her head just right. “What?” she asks as Mary wraps her hand around her upper arm and pulls her forward to kiss her full on the mouth. Anna freezes, one hand halfway up to push Mary away, so Mary just hooks an arm around Anna’s waist and stays where she is. A thrill runs through her, hot and alive. If Abe is allowed to ruin their family then so is Mary. 

“Mmm-” Anna pulls away when Mary runs her tongue across her bottom lip, looking shocked. “Mar- Mrs. Woodhull!” she exclaims in a whisper. Her face is red. Mary blinks rapidly, breathing hard. _I did that,_ she thinks, and wants to do it again. 

“Yes?” Mary cocks her head to the side, looking innocent but holding her place. Her heart is pounding. She’s willing to bet that Anna doesn't want to be the one to run away. 

Anna is gaping at her. “You, you’re distraught. You need some time to-”

“I’m not,” Mary says, clearly. Actually despite her physical responses, she feels remarkably in control. Calm. She felt the same way when she set fire to her own home. “I was distraught before, and then I moved past it.” 

The other woman is now fervently looking around the room. “We _can’t,_ ” she whispers. Mary can’t help but notice that she didn’t say ‘I don’t want to.’ 

“Why not?” Mary asks, her voice dangerously low. She lets her hand dig into Anna’s back. “You already did.” 

Anna gasps and draws back like she’d been slapped, then rears forward and hits Mary square in the face with an open hand. Mary rocks back, losing her hold on Anna’s dress, but then Anna’s following her down, one hand on her shoulder and the other wrapped up in her hair. She pulls Mary's face up and kisses her. 

Mary tilts her head to provide a better angle, opening up when Anna presses her tongue against the seam of her lips. As soon as she does, Anna draws back, whimpering. Mary only lets her get so far, desperate for Anna not to leave because as soon as she does Mary knows the gravity of the situation will occur to at least one of them and they'll have to stop. 

Anna is staring down at her in shock, and her gaze keeps drifting back to her lips. “Are you- are you _sure?_ ” she breathes, so quietly Mary can barely hear her. 

Mary nods, looking straight into the other woman’s eyes. If she’s going to be a sinner, she isn’t going to hide from it. Looking nervous but slightly more convinced, Anna lets Mary kiss her again, and this time she doesn’t pull away when Mary slides her tongue across hers. 

After a few minutes, when Mary starts to feel comfortable with Anna’s softness pressed against her, Anna pulls back a little further and slowly slides her hand from Mary’s waist to the front of her dress, running her fingers lightly across the soft skin right above the neckline. Mary shivers and Anna licks her lips, considering. 

She starts pulling at the laces that hold Mary’s dress together, slowly making her way down to Mary’s stomach. The dress had been tight, and Mary breathes deeply when Anna frees her from it, then harshly when she slides both hands from her ribcage to the tops of her breasts and back down again. She’s still wearing her underdress, but Anna quickly shimmies her out of those too. 

“Oh-” Mary gasps and then places a hand over her mouth to stop herself from talking. 

Anna ignores her, still exploring Mary’s breasts. She leans down and presses a kiss to Mary’s stomach, and Mary feels a slickness when she shifts her legs. Anna looks relatively unaffected. After a moment's hesitation, Mary sits up, face red. Anna pulls away, startled. “I’m sorry-” 

“Turn around and let me undress you,” Mary breathes, finding that she can’t stand to be at such a disadvantage. 

That makes Anna blush too, though she does as she’s told and gets up, turning to face the other wall and shivering when Mary moves to sit behind her, shedding the last pieces of her clothes as she goes. Her dress is nicer than Mary’s, a remnant from her prosperous but now defunct marriage, and it is also more tightly laced. Mary takes her time, sliding her hands through Anna’s hair when she pushes it out of the way, running her hands along Anna’s arms and up her shoulders before she starts on the laces. She and Abe never took their time with each other like this, the weight of expectation too present in the room every time they touched. 

Mary banishes the thought of her absentee husband and sets her mind to the task at hand. She kisses Anna’s neck after the dress is off and out of the way, moving from neck to shoulder and back again to hear Anna’s breathing go ragged. 

“Oh my-” Anna manages, doing a decent job at staying relatively quiet. Mary keeps to her task, irrationally proud of herself at making Anna Strong shake. All of her top layers gone and left in just an underskirt, Mary is free to let her hands wander like Anna did, testing her reactions while she presses herself against Anna’s back. 

Feeling emboldened, Mary starts to shift around, thinking to straddle the other woman like she did to her, but Anna stops her. “No.” She places a hand on one of Mary’s thighs, holding her still. 

Mary frowns, one hand pressed to Anna’s lower stomach, inching lower. She tries and fails to stop feeling guilty. “We don’t have to-”

“No! It’s just-” Anna takes a deep breath. “Stay there. Stay behind me.” 

“Oh,” Mary breathes, caught off guard. Though she can see the appeal. “Here, move to the top of the bed,” she says, and pulls the other woman back so that Mary can lean against the pillow and Anna can lean against her, between her legs. Mary resists the urge to rut against her like an animal, barely. She feels like she’s going to burst into flames in an instant. 

She settles for leaning forward to kiss her, encouraging Anna to turn her head as Mary inches her hand up her leg. Anna kisses her avidly, apparently ready to simply commit to the experience, and helps Mary bunch her skirt up at her waist. She spreads her legs, feet flat on the bed and knees bent. Mary strokes her stomach, not quite brazen enough to make that final move until Anna physically places Mary’s hand where she wants it. 

“Yes?” 

“Please,” Anna whispers. 

Emboldened, Mary slides two fingers into her right away and Anna lets out a choked cry. She’s soaking wet and hot, clenching on Mary’s fingers, and the slide is easy. Mary puts her other hand over Anna’s mouth, like Anna did to her before, and starts pressing in with her fingers, pulling back every few seconds to stroke her where Mary knows Anna wants it most. 

“Oh yes,” Anna says when Mary feels confident that she isn’t going to scream or otherwise draw attention to them. 

“Good?” Mary asks, even though she knows it must be by the way Anna is moving.

“You know it-” Anna sucks in a breath. “-is. It is.” 

Smiling, Mary presses open mouthed kisses Anna’s neck and moves her hand faster. She clamps her hand over Anna’s mouth again when she feels her hips start to move in increasingly erratic motions. Anna reaches back and grabs onto Mary’s hip to squeeze it when she comes, probably hard enough to leave marks. 

Mary hisses in pain but lets her do it, knowing what she’s feeling from the times she had done this to herself, though she knows that the sensation of being touched by another is a heady one. Anticipation curls in her stomach and Anna slumps against her, gasping. 

“Mary,” she whispers. “I don’t know what to-”

“Then don’t,” Mary says, not wanting her to spoil the moment. 

Laughing quietly, Anna rolls and shifts so that she’s facing Mary. Her face is red and her hair is a mess, curling at the ends and sticking up all over the place. Mary puts her hands in it just because she can. It’s wonderfully soft. Anna leans into her touch. 

“I may not know what brought this on...” Anna starts, and Mary rolls her eyes.

“Please,” she says, looking down at the other woman wrapped around her. “All women feel this way.” 

Anna frowns. “I don’t believe that’s true.” 

Amused, Mary keeps playing with her hair, absently braiding it. “Of course they do. We want what we can't have. It’s just the way things are.” 

Anna doesn’t seem convinced, and Mary doesn’t like the calculating look on her face, so she starts moving farther down the bed, putting herself flat on her back. Anna accommodates her, looking her fill at her body as she goes. Confidant now, she reaches down in between Mary’s legs and Mary gasps. 

Anna grins and shifts up, pushing Mary's legs apart with her knees. Anna touches her again, more gently than Mary had done. Then she starts kissing her, moving down from her collarbone to the top of her breast, to her stomach. When she dips her head lower, Mary makes a wild grab for her hair. “What are you doing?” she hisses, blushing. 

Anna looks up, still holding Mary’s thighs. “What? You’ve never had someone...kiss you there?” she smirks. “Selah did it for me.” 

Mary glares at her, trying to decide if she’s being played with. “No. Abe never did anything like _that_.”

Anna huffs, rolling her eyes. “Not for me either,” she says, then freezes. Mary closes her eyes. Anna seems afraid to move, caught in that ridiculous position. “Mary, I wasn’t-”

“Just-” Mary takes a deep breath. “Just don’t. 

“I really didn’t mean to-” 

Mary sits up, knocking Anna off balance in order to kiss her, physically stopping the words from coming out for her mouth. Anna kisses her back, almost desperately, running her hands along Mary’s back and across her breasts and down between her legs. Mary breaks away, laying back down. She look up at Anna, who is still kneeling there in her underskirt and staring down at Mary with comically wide eyes. 

“Now,” Mary says, sounding braver than she feels. “Kiss me.” She spreads her legs. 

Anna nearly falls off the bed in her haste to comply, pressing kisses down the line of Mary’s stomach until she reaches her goal. Mary sucks in a sharp breath and reaches back to clutch at the pillows as Anna pushes her tongue inside her, stroking. Then she moves back up, dragging her tongue along every inch of Mary’s most private place, and back down again. 

Mary tips her head back, stifling a moan. “Anna-” she whimpers, and Anna slides a hand up to tangle with Mary’s. Her skin is on fire, and she finds her hands in Anna’s hair again, guiding her. Anna doesn’t object, but she does pick up the pace, pleasuring her with wide strokes of her tongue even as she has her fingers thrusting inside her. 

When she starts to pant in earnest, Mary dares to open her eyes, only to find Anna staring at her from between her legs, one hand flat on her stomach and the other buried inside her. She feels her inner muscles clench all at once, and a feeling far more intense than she had ever been able to give herself comes over her. Anna doesn’t stop, continuing to take Mary with her fingers as she gives Mary her _kisses._

Mary has to physically pull her up by the hair to get her to stop, overwhelmed. 

Anna comes up immediately, concern crossing her face. “Did I hurt you?” 

“No,” Mary gasps. “It’s just, too much.” 

Anna crawls up the bed to lay down on top of her. “I see,” she says, smirking. 

Mary tries to roll her eyes, but she’s tired so she isn’t sure how effective it is. “No need to be smug.” 

Laughing, Anna rolls off of her, settling onto her back. They lapse into silence as Mary’s breathing slows down, both lost in their thoughts. The moment is breaking down, reality creeping back into Mary’s room. Her eyelids feel increasingly heavy, and Mary fears for a second that she will fall asleep, but then Anna speaks again. 

“Sometimes I can’t stand to look at myself in the mirror,” Anna says, still staring up at the ceiling.

Mary can’t bring herself to say something comforting. “Well that’s understandable.” 

Anna stiffens and turns her head sharply, a dark look passing over her face. “I always truly thought you hated me, I suppose I was right.” Mary wonders dimly if they are actually going to have a fight while laying together naked. She hopes not, she’s too tired for it. 

Mary sighs. “I don’t have the luxury of being able to hate you,” she hesitates, unsure if she wants to admit to this. “In truth, I depend on you watch Abe for me, to make sure he doesn’t do anything to get himself killed, or worse.” 

“Worse?” Anna asks, voice strained but clearly trying to lighten the mood again. “What’s worse than death? Double death?” 

Mary levels her with an even stare. “Caught.” 

Anna looks away, her public mask starting to come back. “I understand.”

“Do you?” Mary sits up, angrily pushing her hair out of her way. “I worry not only for myself, but for my son. I need to have certain assurances.” 

“I would give them to you if I could but-” 

“You can,” Mary says, laying back down, on her side and closer to her this time. Anna gives her a helpless look, and it occurs to Mary that she must be scared as well. “If you tell me you’ll do your best to protect my husband from himself. He doesn’t listen to me, but he might listen to you.” 

Anna shifts to her side to lean on one elbow, her hair moving in a graceful waterfall as she props herself up. “What if we win?” 

“You won’t,” Mary says, frowning. “No matter the cause, the colonies can’t hope to stand against the crown.” 

“I disagree, and what if I’m right?” Anna challenges her again. 

Mary looks up at her, considering. “If you are right,” she says, choosing her words carefully. “Then I’m sure I will be very gratified to have such a...close friend on the winning side, just as you will be lucky to have me defending you if goes the other way.” 

Anna nods, smiling slightly. “We must look out for each other.” 

Mary raises an eyebrow at her. “Shall we seal it with a kiss?” 

Anna laughs and leans down to press her lips against Mary’s smiling ones.


End file.
